Unused content in Strider (CPS-1)
This article lists all known unused content found in the Arcade version of Strider. Unused graphics Sprites provided by Captain Weird Jr. from the Strider Citadel. Dead pixels Certain sprites of Hiryu (like one when running up an incline or climbing) display one or more solid black pixels floating near him during gameplay. These pixels should have been cleaned up before release, but were either not caught or forgotten about given how small they are. Another known instance of pixels coming up where they shouldn't is with the Russian Infantryman piloting the Sky Thunder Mk-II. When confronted by Hiryu a garbled piece of the next stage's title sprite briefly appears next to him, giving the illusion he's speaking somethingMorgoth Galaxius, Rodrigo Shin (April 25, 2010). "Red Star Rising". LSCM 4.0. Accessed November 25, 2019. This is not visible in-game, however, as the sprite is hidden behind the airship's front sprite. Unused sounds There are a number of unused sounds that can be heard in the game's internal sound test, accessed by turning on service mode and entering "IO TEST", then "OUTPUT". Repurposed sound effects A few sound effects were apparently used in places that weren't originally intended, as their names in the sound test indicate: * #58 - FMM SHOT - Used when picking up items. Its name, however, follows the convention of sounds used by the Flying Mosqueman (FMM), indicating it was originally meant for its projectile attack. * #6B - KAMAKABE - Used as the sound effect heard when striking a Frog or Mr. Elephant. As its name translates literally to "Sickle Wall", and there are unused versions for a wood and ground sickle hits, it was originally intended to be used while climbing certain surfaces. * #70 - KONGPUNC - Used for the shooting Wall Turrets in the first stage. As the name clearly indicates, it was originally planned for Mecha Pon's punching attack. * #5F - BARK - The used sound effect for Mecha Pon's punch. The name may indicate it was originally intended as a barking sound for the Siberian Wolf, either for its idle stance or while lunging at Hiryu. * #73 - WOLF - Used for Lago's fire breath attack. As the name indicates, it was a sound intended for the Siberian Wolf, whose only unique sound (9C, its howl) is also called "WOLF". Unused music There are two unused music themes featured in the game's internal code, and can also be heard in the sound test. #03 - 1ST BGM4 - Not entirely unused, but can't be properly heard in-game. This theme was meant to be played during the battle against Novo (as seen in the Capcom Game Syndrome video). Probably due to an oversight, however, the theme never plays during said event and instead can only be heard through a glitch: after reaching the top of the Grand Mosque, the player must backtrack all the way back until the scrolling ends, at which point the song will start playing until the final boss is reached. Despite not playing properly (the player needing to go out of their way to force it to play), this theme was included in all soundtrack releases, under the name "Bullet Corridor". It was, however, removed entirely from all subsequent console ports. Missing music Early Arcade revisions are known for lacking a number of music themes, mostly affecting the 3rd stage (Balrog) and final stage (The Third Moon), as well as ending screens. When reaching the areas they should play and when selected in the internal sound test, the first theme from the first stage, "Raid!", plays in their place. The following themes were restored in a later revision of the Arcade, and are featured in all subsequent ports and versions: * #18 - 4ST BGM1 - "Short Spin", 1st theme of the Balrog. * #19 - 4ST BGM2 - "Gravity Unusual", 2nd theme of the Balrog. * #1A - 4ST BIG - "Capture!", 3rd and final theme of the Balrog. * #1B - 5ST BGM1 - "Hiryu", 1st theme of the Third Moon. * #1C - 5ST BGM1 - "Theme for Counterattack", 2nd theme of the Third Moon. * #1D - 5ST BIG - "Grandmaster", final boss theme. * #1F - 5ST DEMO - Music for the Third Moon intro cutscene. * #20 - CLEAR - "Final Clear", jingle after beating the final boss. * #22 - RANKING - "Ranking", high score and name entry screen. The following themes weren't restored in any of the known Arcade revisions, but can still be heard in the build used for the Capcom Game Syndrome video, indicating they did exist prior to release. All three themes were also restored/recreated for the Sharp X68000 port. * #1E - 4ST DEMO - Music for the Stage 3/Balrog intro cutscene. * #21 - ENDING - "Sarani...", ending theme. * #23 - TIMEOVER - Used when the timer's about to end. Internal name listing As seen in the section above, the internal names for music themes related to the 3rd stage in the final release (the Balrog) are labeled "4ST", while all music themes related to the 4th stage (the Amazon) are labeled "3ST". This is a leftover from an early playable build of the Arcade version featured in loketests, which has both stages' order switched. It is presumed complains from players about the difficulty were the reason for the change in order.Staff (November 4, 2015). "Project X Zone 2: Brave New World Cross-talk interview with Developers going beyond the boundaries of the manufacturer (Part 2) (Japanese). famitsu.com. Accessed April , 2018 As a result of this all soundtrack releases label the two stage's music medleys using the wrong number and order. This was finally fixed in the Strider Hiryu Sound Chronicle, which used a latter-issued "resale" version of the ROM with a fixed sound board. Interestingly, the early stage order can be seen in the European home computer ports, which combined with their use of Hiryu's "Haa!" scream (itself removed from all other English localizations), may indicate Tiertex was provided an early prototype and not the released Arcade build to work with. Unused Text There exists text found inside the game's code giving the full names for three programmers: Tae Komatsu, Toshihiro Yamauchi and Toshihiko Michi. There's also text for what appears to be a "Scroll Test" section meant for the test menu. References